• If you had just 30 seconds to pitch to a new client, would you know exactly how to sell yourself?
• For Roland Gurney, too many agencies fall down on their own value proposition, with empty plaudits and fluffy language taking centre stage instead.
• He’ll be talking you through how to hone your value proposition – and he might even have some examples of what NOT to do too…

Once you’ve nailed your agency’s positioning, the natural next step is to hone your value proposition.

Roland Gurney is back to tell it as it is – and when it comes to your value proposition, sometimes honesty is exactly what you need to see where you’re going wrong.

“I go through an agency’s website from top to bottom and tell them what they’re doing well – but also suggest how they can improve,” says Roland, explaining how his ‘teardown’ service works.

“As part of that, I have a Chrome plug-in, which allows me to play with the actual copy on their website – non-destructively – including re-writing their value proposition for them to help them see what it is they should be saying to clients.”

For Roland, this is a particular sticking point, with too many agencies using hyper-inflated, fluffy language and made-up plaudits to sell themselves to clients.

“For many agencies, the biggest problem is if they’ve got no USP, or they’ve made up some bullshit about being purpose-driven, with no actual purpose,” he explains.

“Their value proposition is usually something like ‘we deliver results’ or ‘we’re passionate’, but it’s meaningless because they haven’t gone back and really nailed their positioning.”

Roland will be talking us through how to pick apart your value proposition and make sure you’re selling yourself as successfully – and as authentically – as possible.